Comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator and method for manufacturing the same

ABSTRACT

This is a method for manufacturing a comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator in which interlayer separation is hard to occur and even in case of comb teeth with slit width of 70 μm and below, and also in case of comb teeth with slits of three-dimensional shape, it is easily manufactured.  
     A predetermined number of piezoelectric material green sheets  1  on which electrode films  2  are formed are prepared, and, by use of a punch  7  around which a stripper  9  is disposed and a die  8 , slit apertures are formed in a first piezoelectric material green sheet  1   a . The piezoelectric material green sheet  1   a  is pulled up by the stripper  9  without pulling up the punch  7  from the piezoelectric material green sheet  1   a . Then, slit apertures are formed in a second piezoelectric material green sheet  1   b  by the punch  7 , and in the same manner, without pulling up the punch  7  from the piezoelectric material green sheet  1   b , two punched-out piezoelectric material green sheet  1   a   , 1   b  are pulled up by the stripper  9  and at the same time of the punch-out, the piezoelectric material green sheet is laminated. After repetition of this operation for a predetermined number of times, it is fired and integrated to form a comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator in which piezoelectric films are laminated.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] This invention relates to a comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator and a method for manufacturing the same in which a plurality of driving parts, each comprising a plurality of piezoelectric layers, are aligned and allocated. In particular, this invention relates to a comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator and a method for manufacturing the same in which it is hard for interlayer separation to occur and it is also hard to be contaminated. Further, even in case of comb teeth with slit width of 70 μm and below and also in case of comb teeth having slits of three-dimensional shape, it is easy to manufacture.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] As an example using a comb teeth type actuator, there are ink jet printers. In case of this ink jet printer, an ink discharging part, as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-246025A, has a plurality of nozzles which are aligned and allocated, ink chambers which contain ink to be discharged at the back part of each nozzle, and pressure generating members which comprise piezoelectric elements at positions opposite to respective nozzles. The ink chambers are pressurized and transformed by transformation of piezoelectric elements, so that ink droplets are discharged to flow. Pressure generating members as actuators are normally aligned and allocated in alignment with positions of the nozzles, and pressure generating members formed of comb teeth shape are utilized as actuators.

[0003] Then, in case that resolution of a printer is of 180 dpi, alignment pitch of nozzles becomes 14 μm, and pitch of neighboring actuators, i.e., pitch of comb teeth is also formed by this spacing. Therefore, refined and skilled dimensional precision is required, and an actuator which comprises such comb teeth shaped piezoelectric element is formed in manner as shown in a manufacturing process chart of FIG. 6. In this manner, a plurality of piezoelectric material green sheets 21 on which electrode films 20 are formed are laminated and sintered to form a multi-layer piezo-actuator 22, and it is processed by a dicer etc. to form slits 23 and comb teeth 24. In addition, in FIG. 6, A shows a before laminating state, and B shows a pressurized and laminated state, and C shows a fired and integrated state, and D shows a state in which comb teeth are formed by carrying out a dicer process.

[0004] However, since the forming method in which slit fabrication is carried out by the above dicer etc. is carried out after sintering of the piezoelectric material green sheet, corner portions tend to be easily dropped out and interlayer separation tends to easily occur, and in concrete terms, the following problems existed.

[0005] Firstly, residual stress occurs between a piezoelectric material layer and an electrode material layer, due to difference etc. of coefficient of thermal expansion of both materials. Therefore, since a surface thereof is exposed by machine work, interlayer separation defect tends to easily occur during the work. Further, separation tends to occur between the piezoelectric material layer/electrode material layer at the worked surface during use.

[0006] Secondly, in the slit fabrication, since respective slits are formed by cutting off by the dicer etc., it took long even if they are formed at a dash by a plurality of dicer blades.

[0007] Thirdly, cleansing is necessary since it is contaminated by working fluid after the slit fabrication, but because strength after the fabrication is lower, cleansing—drying processes have to be carried out carefully, which costs much.

[0008] Fourthly, there was design constraint. This means that slit width between comb teeth in practical design is constrained by thickness of the dicer blade for fabrication use and can not be approximate 70 μm and below. Therefore, it was not possible to obtain a comb teeth type actuator of higher density, or higher strength, or higher strength and higher output. Also, since only linear or planar slit fabrication is possible, when comb teeth of complex shape is necessitated, there was no other choice than accommodating by adhering a component in post-process as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication 6-71877A.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0009] To solve the above problems, inventors studied a manufacturing method in which, firstly as shown in FIG. 7, the piezoelectric material green sheets 21 are punched out by use of a metal mold, respectively to form slits 23 between comb teeth, and thereafter, they are aligned by use of a jig, laminated and hot pressed, and then fired and integrated. The inventors considered that, with this manufacturing method, residual stress between a piezoelectric material layer and an electrode material layer is relieved, and further, a side surface of comb teeth becomes a high-temperature fired surface so that the cleansing process is simplified.

[0010] However, in an actuator which is formed by this method, as shown in FIG. 8 which shows an end surface looking from Q in FIG. 7, positions between piezoelectric layers of comb teeth cannot be aligned with good precision, and big misalignment occurs. This misalignment amount M is 10 μm at the lowest, and magnitude of about 20 μm on the average. This was because in the alignment method, the piezoelectric material green sheet are laminated on a jig having positioning pins in such a manner that the pins pass through positioning apertures of each piezoelectric material green sheet, and to that end, clearance between the pin aperture and the pin is required to be at least about 10 μm. Further, because of suppleness of the piezoelectric material green sheet, it was unavoidable that misalignment between the piezoelectric layers of approximate 20 μm in total occurs when 10 layers and more are laminated.

[0011] In addition, here, describing reasons that misalignment between the piezoelectric layers becomes an issue, when misalignment occurs between the piezoelectric layers of comb teeth, an area in which effective electric field occurs inside of comb teeth becomes uneven, and an area in which piezoelectric strain does not occur is generated widely around the misalignment portion as a center, as shown in an end elevation of FIG. 8C for showing a portion where piezoelectric strain occurs by electric field being applied in a shape of FIG. 8B. As a result, a characteristic of an actuator is dropped down, and further, stress concentration occurs at a boundary portion, and micro-crack occurs during use, which may be a case that it is grown to demolish an element.

[0012] Further, such a defect becomes a big problem in a refined comb teeth type actuator like comb teeth pitch of 2001 m and below in particular. Because, if slit width is set to be 70 μm, width of the piezoelectric layer is simply 130 μm and below, and if misalignment of no less than 20 μm occurs to this, an area of more than 10% in totality becomes an area in which piezoelectric strain does not occur.

[0013] The present invention could be made in light of such experimental results, and a comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator according to the invention is a comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator in which a plurality of piezoelectric actuators, each comprising a plurality of piezoelectric layers, are aligned and allocated in the shape of comb teeth, characterized in that a side surface of each comb tooth comprises a fired surface. In particular, it is preferable that amount of convexo-concave between piezoelectric layers on a side surface of a comb tooth which is opposed to a neighboring comb tooth is less than 5 μm.

[0014] Also, it is preferable that the side surface of the comb tooth which is opposite to the neighboring comb tooth may be of three-dimensional shape from a base part toward a top of the comb teeth. Further, it is preferable either distance of the neighboring comb teeth is less than 70 μm, or comb teeth pitch is less than 200 μm.

[0015] By configuring in this manner, since an interlayer between piezoelectric material layer and electrode material layer exposed to outside is a high-temperature fired surface, residual stress is relieved and interlayer separation is hard to occur during process or during use. Accordingly, it is possible to obtain a characteristic with excellent durability and reliability. Moreover, a surface is hard to be contaminated and there occurs no case of short-circuit defect during use.

[0016] A method for manufacturing a comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator according to the invention is a method for manufacturing a comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator in which a plurality of piezoelectric actuators, each comprising a plurality of piezoelectric layers, are aligned and allocated in the shape of comb teeth, characterized by including, a first process in which a plurality of piezoelectric material green sheets on which electrode films are formed are prepared, and slit apertures are formed on a first piezoelectric material green sheet among the above plural piezoelectric material green sheets by use of a punch and a die, a second process in which the above first piezoelectric material green sheet is pulled up by use of a stripper, a third process in which a top portion of the above punch is pulled up to the extent that it is pulled in slightly from the lowest portion of the above pulled up first piezoelectric material green sheet, a fourth process in which second slit apertures are formed in a second piezoelectric material green sheet by the above punch, a fifth process in which the above second piezoelectric material green sheet is pulled up jointly with the above first piezoelectric material green sheet, and a sixth process in which the top portion of the above punch is pulled up to the extent that it is pulled in slightly from the lowest portion of the above pulled up second piezoelectric material green sheet, and thereafter, a plurality of the piezoelectric material green sheets being laminated by repeating from the fourth process to the sixth process to form a plurality of piezoelectric layers of comb teeth shape and to thereafter be fired.

[0017] By manufacturing the comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator in this manner, the punch itself is used as a laminating axis of the piezoelectric material green sheets, and without moving the punched-out piezoelectric material green sheet, the comb teeth are formed by superposing them sequentially, and therefore, there occurs no transformation of slit apertures and laminating is carried out with high precision so that a side surface of the comb teeth with little convexo-concave can be formed. Therefore, it is possible to make an actuator with excellent characteristic, even in case of the comb teeth with slit width of less than 70 μm, or comb teeth pitch of less than 200 μm.

[0018] Also, by design of a punch-out metal mold, a slit may be of three-dimensional shape, and the slit width equals to punch process width of the metal mold at the time point of the punching-out of the piezoelectric material green sheet but is shrunk at firing process, and therefore, it is possible to finally form refined slots with width of 30-50 μm.

[0019] Further, since the slit portion is formed before firing and the interlayer between piezoelectric material layer—electrode material layer which is exposed to the outside in a finished product is a high-temperature fired surface, residual stress is relieved and interlayer separation is hard to occur during process or during use. Therefore, it is possible to obtain products with excellent durability and reliability. Also, a surface is hard to be contaminated and abnormality due to crud such as short-circuit defect etc. is hard to occur during use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020]FIG. 1 is an explanatory view which shows a comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator and a method for manufacturing the same according to the invention.

[0021]FIG. 2 is a process explanatory view which shows a method for carrying out slit fabrication and laminating of piezoelectric material green sheets in FIG. 1 at the same moment, and A is a view in which a first piezoelectric material green sheet is mounted on a die, and B is a process chart for punching out the first piezoelectric material green sheet, and C is a view in which a second piezoelectric material green sheet is mounted, and D is a process chart for punching out the second piezoelectric material green sheet, and E is a process chart in which punching out and laminating of all sheets are completed and laminated sheets are separated from a stripper.

[0022]FIG. 3 is an explanatory view which shows other manufacturing method of the invention.

[0023]FIG. 4 is an oblique perspective view which shows other shape of a comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator of the invention.

[0024]FIG. 5 shows an end elevation looking from P in FIG. 1, and A is a whole view, and B is a partially enlarged view, and C is an explanatory view for showing a portion which an electric field is applied and piezoelectric strain occurs.

[0025]FIG. 6 is an explanatory view which shows a method for manufacturing a conventional comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator, and A shows a before laminating state, and B shows a pressurized and laminated state, and C shows a fired and integrated state, and D shows a state in which comb teeth are formed by dicer process.

[0026]FIG. 7 is an explanatory view which shows other method for manufacturing a conventional comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator, and A shows an aspect in which laminating is carried out after punching-out, and B shows an aspect after laminating and firing.

[0027]FIG. 8 shows an end elevation looking from Q in FIG. 7, and A is a whole view, and B is a partially enlarged view, and C is an explanatory view for showing a portion which an electric field is applied and piezoelectric strain occurs.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0028] A best mode in which the invention is embodied will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows one example of a comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator according to the invention, and A-D show an outline of manufacturing process, and E shows an outline of a finished comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator. A manufacturing procedure is that, after firstly an electrode film 2 is formed on a piezoelectric material green sheet 1 (hereinafter, simply referred to as sheet), slits 6 of each sheet 1 are formed in A, i.e., forming comb teeth 3 and laminating are carried out at the same moment by a method described later to form the comb teeth 3 which is formed by laminating sheets, and at the same time of completion of punching-out, the laminating of layers is completed.

[0029] Then, respective layers are contacted by heating and pressurizing in B, and fired in C and a driving part 14 of a multi-layer piezo-actuator is finished. Thereafter, electrodes 4 a and 4 b are formed on an end surface in D, and a lead wire 5 is attached to each comb tooth in E to finish a comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator.

[0030] Thus, since the comb teeth 3 is formed before firing, it is not necessary to fabricate slits by a dicer etc. to form the comb teeth, and since a side surface of the comb teeth is maintained to be a fired surface without change, an end surface between the piezoelectric material layer—the electrode material layer is not exposed after the firing. Accordingly, residual stress between piezoelectric layers is relieved, and during process, chipping of an end portion and interlayer separation are hard to occur, and even during use, interlayer separation is hard to occur, and durability and reliability can be improved. Also, since the fired surface is used, the surface is hard to be contaminated and a short-circuit defect is hard to occur during use. Further, since the slit fabrication is not carried out after sintering, cleansing—drying processes can be simplified.

[0031]FIG. 2 shows a concrete manufacturing method for carrying out formation of the comb teeth 3 and laminating at the same moment, and used is a metal mold which comprises a punch 7 around which a stripper 9 for operating sheet laminating is disposed and a die 8. FIG. 2A shows a before punching-out state in which a first sheet 1 a is mounted on the die 8, and in FIG. 2B, the punch 7 and the stripper 9 are lowered and the sheet 1 a is punched out to form slit apertures and comb teeth (First Process).

[0032] Then, punching-out of a second sheet 1 b is prepared, and at this time, as shown in FIG. 2C, the first sheet 1 a is moved upward with contacting to the stripper 9 and separated from the die 8 (Second Process). A method for contacting the sheet 1 to the stripper 9 can be carried out by forming a suction aperture 10 in the stripper 9 to carry out vacuum suction.

[0033] Also, to prepare punching-out of the second sheet 1 b, the punch 7 and the stripper 9 are pulled up from the die 8, and at mid-flow of the pull-up, it is preferable that a top portion of the punch 7 is not returned to inside of the aperture of the first sheet 1 a which was pulled up jointly. When the pull-up is stopped, it is important that the top portion of the punch is stopped at a position where it is pulled in slightly from the lowest portion of the sheet 1 a which was pulled up jointly (Third Process). If the punch 7 is returned to inside of the aperture of the first sheet 1 a, or is housed completely in the stripper 9, the apertures formed are transformed since the sheet 1 is soft. Thus, flatness of a side surface is deteriorated when the sheets are laminated to form the comb teeth.

[0034]FIG. 2D shows a process for punching out the second sheet 1 b, and by contacting the first sheet 1 a to the stripper 9, the second sheet 1 b is easily mounted on the die 8 and punched out as in a process of FIG. 2B. At the same time, the second sheet is overlapped on the first sheet 1 a (Fourth Process).

[0035] Then, the first sheet 1 a and the second sheet 1 b, which were punched out by repeating processes of C and D, are overlapped and pulled up by the stripper 9 (Fifth Process), and punching-out of a third sheet 1 c is prepared. However, also at this time, it is important to stop at a position where it is pulled in slightly from the lowest portion of the sheet which was pulled up jointly, i.e., where it is pulled in slightly from the lowest portion inside the second sheet 1 b (Sixth Process).

[0036] Thereafter, by repeating processes from Fourth Process to Sixth Process, punching-out and laminating of sheets as required are repeated.

[0037]FIG. 2E shows a state where punching-out is completed. When punching-out and laminating of sheets 1 as required are completed, holding of the sheet by the stripper 9 is released, and it becomes possible that the sheet 1 which was punched out and laminated is separated from the stripper 9 to be gotten out. The separation from the stripper 9, as shown in the figure, can be surely carried out by disposing a separation jig 12 on a under surface of the stripper.

[0038] The operation described above is one which a manufacturing method described in Japanese Patent Publication No.2000-280573A is applied to, and thereafter, according to need, pressurizing and laminating process is carried out to form a laminated body which is capable of handling, and then, on the condition which is suitable to characteristics of the piezoelectric material green sheet and the electrode material, the laminated body is fired and integrated.

[0039]FIG. 5 shows an explanatory view of an end surface looking from P in FIG. 1C formed in this manner, and A is a whole view, and B is an enlarged view, and C shows a portion where piezoelectric strain occurs when an electric field is applied. As shown in the figure, since respective piezoelectric layers of each comb tooth can be superposed without little or nothing of occurrence of the distortion, the piezoelectric strain after the above firing can be generated in the form of uniformity.

[0040] Showing experimental values of superposition precision according to the above manufacturing method, for example, on a sheet with thickness of 40 μm and Young′ modulus of 39 N/mm², formed are comb teeth with slit between comb teeth of 70 μm and width of comb teeth of 100 μm, and in case that ten sheets are superposed, distortion amount between respective layers after firing is 4 μm at the maximum, and side surfaces of the comb teeth are smoothened without convexo-concave. Also, slit width after firing is about 55 μm by firing shrinkage.

[0041] As just described, the above manufacturing method, even if the slit width is less than 70 μm or even if the comb teeth pitch is less than 200 μm, can easily form the comb teeth, and it is possible to suppress the distortion amount in each layer less than 5 μm.

[0042] Thus, since formation of slits and laminating are carried out simultaneously by use of the punch and the die, and using the punch itself as a positioning axis of laminating of the piezoelectric material green sheets prevents transformation of slit apertures which were punched out by the punch, transformation of slit apertures does not occur and the laminating is carried out with high precision. Further, side surfaces of the comb teeth can be formed with little convexo-concave. Therefore, even if the slit width of the comb teeth is less than 70 μm, or the comb teeth pitch is less than 200 μm, an actuator with excellent characteristic can be formed.

[0043] Also, in the above method, since it is not necessary to have a jig which moves the sheet and a space for superposition, manufacturing line can be simplified and manufacturing with low cost is possible.

[0044] Moreover, although the slit width is almost the same as punching process width of the metal mold at the time point of the sheet punching-out, it is shrunk at the time of firing, and thus, it is possible to form refined slits with width of 30-50 μm by combination of thin-walled processed slits and firing shrinkage according to the above manufacturing method.

[0045] Further, by design of a punching-out metal mold, it is possible to carry out a process of punching out to produce a curved surface, and it becomes possible to form comb teeth of various shapes. As shown in FIG. 4, side surfaces of the comb teeth or a top surface shape are not a simple flat surface, and an optimal shape can be formed as usage. FIG. 4A is of a shape that a top portion of the comb teeth is formed with broad width and a contact area of each comb tooth to an object to be pressed is broadened. FIG. 4B shows that each comb tooth has spring characteristic. By forming in such a manner, it is possible to use it favorably as a micro relay. In FIG. 4C, the top surface is made to be a curved surface by changing length of each comb tooth. By forming in such a manner, it is also possible to have the object to be pressed allocated on a curved surface.

[0046] In addition, in order to assure the contact between respective sheets on the occasion of the sheet laminating, an adhesive may be applied to a surface of the sheet. Also, an adhesive sheet may be sandwiched between sheets.

[0047]FIG. 3 shows other manufacturing method of the invention. After an electrode film is formed on the sheet 1 firstly, aperture formation in each sheet 1 and laminating are carried out simultaneously in A by using the method mentioned above. After completion of aperture formation of sheet and laminating, respective layers are brought into contact with each other by heating and pressurizing in B and fired in C. Then, a process for cutting off an end portion is carried out to form the comb teeth in D. Thereafter, as shown in FIGS. 1D and 1E, electrodes are formed on an end surface and lead wires are attached to each comb tooth so that it is finished.

[0048] As mentioned above, comb teeth are not formed directly at the time of punching-out, and laminating is carried out by coupling both end portions of the comb teeth, thereby, it becomes possible to further improve the superposition precision of the comb teeth portion of each sheet. However, since it is necessary to carry out a process for cutting off the end portion after firing and it is necessary to carry out adequately cleansing of a cut-off processed portion, man-hour will be increased.

[0049] Although it was explained about the comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator as an actuator for use in a piezoelectric type ink jet head in the above embodiment, it may be applied to other usage, for example, as a micro relay and a micro switch, which is greatly contributed to progress of industry. 

1. A comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator in which a plurality of piezoelectric actuators, each comprising a plurality of piezoelectric layers, are aligned and allocated in the shape of comb teeth, wherein a side surface of each comb tooth comprises a fired surface.
 2. The comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator according to claim 1, wherein amount of convexo-concave between piezoelectric layers at a side surface of a comb tooth which is opposed to a neighboring comb tooth is less than 5 μm.
 3. The comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the side surface of the comb tooth which is opposite to the neighboring comb tooth is of three-dimensional shape from a base part toward a top of the comb teeth.
 4. The comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein distance of the neighboring comb teeth is less than 70 μm, or comb teeth pitch is less than 200 μm.
 5. A method for manufacturing a comb teeth type piezoelectric actuator in which a plurality of piezoelectric actuators, each comprising a plurality of piezoelectric layers, being aligned and allocated in the shape of comb teeth, comprising, a first process in which a plurality of piezoelectric material green sheets on which electrode films are formed are prepared, and slit apertures are formed on a first piezoelectric material green sheet among the above plural piezoelectric material green sheets by use of a punch and a die, a second process in which the above first piezoelectric material green sheet is pulled up by use of a stripper, a third process in which a top portion of the above punch is pulled up to the extent that it is pulled in slightly from the lowest portion of the above pulled up first piezoelectric material green sheet, a fourth process in which second slit apertures are formed in a second piezoelectric material green sheet by the above punch, a fifth process in which the above second piezoelectric material green sheet is pulled up jointly with the above first piezoelectric material green sheet, and a sixth process in which the top portion of the above punch is pulled up to the extent that it is pulled in slightly from the lowest portion of the above pulled up second piezoelectric material green sheet, and thereafter, a plurality of the piezoelectric material green sheets being laminated by repeating from the fourth process to the sixth process to form a plurality of piezoelectric layers of comb teeth shape and to thereafter be fired. 